Judge: DEA not liable for wrecked truck

Vehicle was used by agents in sting without owner's permission

﻿Craig Patty's truck was used by the DEA without his permission in a drug-cartel sting﻿ in 2011. During the operation, the truck was wrecked and riddled with bullets. The agent driving was shot to death.

﻿Craig Patty's truck was used by the DEA without his permission...

The owner of a Texas tractor-trailer rig secretly used by the Drug Enforcement Administration without his permission and shot with holes in a drug-cartel sting that turned deadly will get no money from the agency, a federal judge ruled.

Craig Patty contends in a civil suit next headed for an appeal that the government should not only pay for fixing the truck and for the temporary loss of its use after the 2011 Houston area shootout, but for the emotional turmoil he and his family endured as they feared the notorious Los Zetas cartel would target them.

Patty had sought up to $6.4 million with the lawsuit, but had said from the start that his main goal was to shed light on the case and have the facts be known publicly. Many of the government's motions filed in the case were kept under seal in order to protect the secrecy of DEA operations.

"When I heard the ruling, I was shocked, as I have patiently waited for three and a half years to have this situation handled in a fair and just manner," Patty said Tuesday. "As a result of the court's dismissal, my resolve is inflamed but strengthened and I will continue to work with my attorneys to take this case to a higher court."

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Used for greater good

In her decision, U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal basically held that the actions of police were done for the greater good of society and therefore the government was not liable.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, which represented the United States during the lawsuit, was pleased with the judge's verdict, but declined further comment pending the outcome of any appeal, spokeswoman Angela Dodge said.

The decision comes nearly four years after Lawrence Chapa, who was an informant driving the vehicle owned by Patty, was shot to death as two dozen federal agents and police were shadowing him in an operation targeting the Los Zetas cartel.

Authorities have not revealed whether Chapa's family has been compensated over his death.

Back in November 2011, a DEA task force was watching Chapa from the ground and the air as he delivered a load of marijuana from the Rio Grande Valley.

In the ensuing firefight, Patty's truck was wrecked and riddled with bullets. During the confusion, a plainclothes Houston police officer shot and wounded a plainclothes Harris County Sheriff's Office deputy who was mistaken for a gangster. Four attackers were arrested and charged with capital murder.

Patty's truck, with its bloodied cab, was impounded and later released to him, but was out of service for months. His insurance company declined fixing the truck on the grounds it had been used in a criminal act.

Patty had argued with the lawsuit that he and his family lived through extreme distress over fears that the cartel would think they had been complicit with police.

He also said that losing the truck for nearly 90 days after it had been damaged nearly crippled his business, which only had two trucks at the time.

'Never offered a penny'

Patty's lawyer, Andy Vickery, said he was outraged that the truck was taken to the Mexican border, loaded with drugs, then riddled with bullets and the driver killed, without the government being held responsible.

"She is basically saying you can't sue the feds," he said of the judge. "They never offered a penny for any of his damages."

Lawyer Fred Shepherd, who also represented Patty, said his client is astonished.

"It is not just that you can't sue the federal government," Shepherd said, "but that federal law enforcement agencies under this ruling can use anybody's property to do anything they want to further their law enforcement mission and not have to go get the permission from the owner of the property to do it."